Trump to Attend Maryland GOP Fundraiser Following Controversial Announcement

By ETHAN LEVINE (Patch Staff)

Less than a week after the controversial announcement of his presidential candidacy, Donald Trump will attend the Maryland Republican Party’s 25th annual Red, White and Blue Dinner — the organization’s largest fundraiser of the year.

The dinner will be held on Tuesday, June 23, at the BWI Airport Marriott on West Nursery Road in Linthicum, Maryland, and will begin at 7 p.m.

It’s not uncommon for some of the biggest players in the party to attend the event, but Trump’s appearance will bring added attention to the fundraiser, and perhaps not for the best of reasons.

On Tuesday, exactly one week in advance of the Maryland fundraiser, Trump announced his GOP candidacy in the 2016 presidential election, and made some controversial statements in doing so.

Among his comments were what some critics deemed his insensitive quips regarding the United States’ foreign relations, Obamacare and more.

“When do we beat Mexico at the border? They’re laughing at us, at our stupidity,” Trump said of the U.S.’s relationship with Mexico. “And now they are beating us economically. They are not our friend, believe me. But they’re killing us economically. The U.S. has become a dumping ground for everybody else’s problems.

“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. … They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.

“... It’s coming from more than Mexico. It’s coming from all over South and Latin America, and it’s coming probably — probably — from the Middle East. But we don’t know.”

Trump went on to suggest the U.S. build a “great wall” (alluding to the Great Wall of China) along the U.S.-Mexico border, and even vowed to have Mexico pay for it.

But he wasn’t finished. He went on to question the intelligence of American leaders in comparison to Chinese leaders, stating:

“Take the New England Patriots and Tom Brady and have them play your high school football team. That’s the difference between China’s leaders and our leaders.”

He then went on to praise his own wealth:

“I’m really rich. I’ll show you in a second,” he said as he revealed his net worth of $8.7 billion. “I don’t have to brag but that’s the kind of thinking our country needs. ... We got to make the country rich.”

He then went on to claim “we have losers” leading the United States.